Human papillomavirus (HPV) detection in vaginal self-samples: evaluation of eNat® as an alternative suspension medium to ThinPrep®PreservCyt® for vaginal swabs.

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) testing on self-collected samples allows for improved coverage rates of cervical cancer (CC) screening programs. ThinPrep®PreservCyt® (HOLOGIC®, USA) medium is widely used for the suspension of cervical and vaginal self-samples. However, this medium is costly, toxic, and flammable, involving special handling procedures which make its use difficult in screening programs, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.

Standardization of CTC AR-V7 PCR assay and evaluation of its role in castration resistant prostate cancer progression.

Background: Castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) represents the most aggressive status of this neoplastic disease, also characterized by the absence of biomarkers predictive of clinical outcome. New drugs as abiraterone or enzalutamide, affecting androgen receptor pathway at different levels, inhibit the proliferative advantage of prostate cancer cells with important long term benefits. Despite the advantages of this second-generation androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), resistance mechanisms, primitive or acquired, often develop.

Development of an allele-specific real-time PCR assay for discrimination and quantification of p63 R279H mutation in EEC syndrome.

The ectrodactyly-ectodermal dysplasia-clefting syndrome is a rare autosomal dominant disorder caused by heterozygous mutations in the p63 gene, a transcription factor belonging to the p53 family. The majority of cases of ectrodactyly-ectodermal dysplasia syndrome are caused by de novo mutations and are therefore sporadic in approximately 60% of patients. The substitution of arginine to histidine (R279H), due to a c.

Regulation of editing and expression of glutamate alpha-amino-propionic-acid (AMPA)/kainate receptors by antidepressant drugs.

Background: Several reports have shown that the glutamatergic system is involved in both the pathogenesis of affective and stress-related disorders and in the action of antidepressant drugs. In particular, antidepressant treatment was shown to modulate expression and function of ionotropic glutamate receptors, to inhibit glutamate release and to restore synaptic plasticity impaired by stress.

Methods: We analyzed the mRNA expression and RNA editing of alpha-amino-propionic-acid (AMPA) and kainate (KA) receptor subunits, in the pre-frontal/frontal cortex (P/FC) and hippocampus (HI) of rats chronically treated with three different drugs: the selective serotonin (5-HT) reuptake inhibitor fluoxetine, the selective noradrenaline (NA) reuptake inhibitor reboxetine and the tricyclic antidepressant desipramine.

Glutamate receptor RNA editing: a molecular analysis of GluR2, GluR5 and GluR6 in human brain tissues and in NT2 cells following in vitro neural differentiation.

The properties of some glutamate receptors are modified by RNA editing. This post-transcriptional mechanism involves the enzymatic deamination of specific adenosines in the pre-mRNA of the glutamate receptors, performed by specific RNA adenosine deaminases (ADARs). This event gives rise to the substitution of a gene-encoded amino acid with a different one that modifies the physiological properties of the ion channel.